DOD, VA consider more integration for EHR systems, VA official says

The Defense and Veterans Affairs departments are considering creating a joint electronic health record (EHR) system as one of many options, a top VA official said today.

A single integrated system “is an option that both agencies would consider, but it is not the only option,” said Roger Baker, VA’s assistant secretary for information and technology, in a conference call with reporters.

“The most important thing is to both look at the paths forward and to do it in the best way,” Baker said. The departments have different needs, populations and locations to consider, he added.

Bake said DOD and VA have been holding "a series of productive discussions" on how to proceed on their modernization goals for DOD's AHLTA and VA's VistA EHR systems. DOD officials recently said they are planning on developing a new record system, to be known as the EHR Way Ahead, with a decision due next year.

VA and DOD are also collaborating on several projects that involve partial integration of their EHR systems.

In Chicago, the Capt. James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center opened Oct. 1 and is preparing to begin operations with partially integrated IT systems from VA and the Navy. “We will go live with the IT systems on Nov. 30,” Baker said.

AHLTA and VistA will coexist at the new medical center, while software has been created with joint interfaces for VA and Navy systems.

For example, a joint patient registration system links to AHLTA and VistA, Baker said, and doctors can log into both systems at the same time.

Additional software will allow lab, radiology, pharmacy and consultation orders to be filed in both systems. However, the pharmacy and consultation pieces are more complex and probably will not be ready by Nov. 30, Baker said.

About the Author

Alice Lipowicz is a staff writer covering government 2.0, homeland security and other IT policies for Federal Computer Week.

FCW investigated efforts by the departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs to improve a joint data repository on military and veteran suicides. Something as impersonal and mundane as incomplete datasets could be exacerbating a national tragedy.

The National Information Exchange Model's usefulness extends far beyond its origins in justice and law enforcement.

Reader comments

Fri, Oct 15, 2010
Sweere
Dayton

Sharing is good, but more integration means more complexity... leading to a logrithmic increase in configuration mang't overhead. There always needs to be a secure alt route to move data from one system to another. Encryption Wizard at spi.dod.mil offers the simpliest, accredited way to strongly en/decrypt any file on Govt PCs available. And its free.

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